Originally Posted by Vetiver

A recording by Alexander Scriabin, which I luckily recorded onto VHS, while watching an art documentary on TV. I then transferred the sound onto cassette, but didn't know what the hell it was or who composed it (the documentary didn't credit the music at the end).

For over 25 years, I had the recording on cassette and wasn't any nearer to solving the mystery. Then, a few years ago, I heard the same piece on a classical radio show. After taking down all the details, I went to a P2P site and downloaded every version of that piece. 50 versions, to be exact.

Using purely memory and an ear for detail, I managed to whittle the results down to 5 or 6 (also discarding the recordings made after the year I watched the documentary greatly helped). I then compared the remaining versions to the cassette recording (that had since been converted to MiniDisc). Within moments, I knew which version it was and confirmed this by closely comparing every nuance of the two recordings.

Piano Sonata No. 2 In G Sharp Minor, Opus 19 'Sonata Fantasy' - Andante. I'm a big fan of dreamy, peaceful piano music from the likes of Debussy and Satie, so I'm glad I finally solved the mystery.

Strangely enough, after first hearing the piece on the radio, the same radio station started playing it a few more times. I had been listening to Radio 3 for years and, up until that point, had never heard it being played ever. Go figure...